Energy, extra energy for work, for workouts, and we seem to have an insatiable appetite for something that will give us a competitive edge in whatever we are doing. Energy drinks, powders, mixes, and pre-workout stimulants have been a growing market. However, these drinks that seem to fly under the regulatory radar of the FDA have still been attracting a great deal of regulatory attention, along with all of the content analysis and health warnings. The New York attorney general was one of the first regulators to move into the energy market and began with an investigation of Monster Energy Drinks (Monster Beverage), Pepsi's AMP (PepsiCo), and 5-Hour Energy Drinks (Living Essentials) to determine whether the companies are adequately disclosing the amount of caffeine in their drinks.

The investigation focuses on the other ingredients in the drinks, such as black tea extract and guarana; these are disclosed on the labels, but those labels may not reflect the additional caffeine that those ingredients contain, caffeine levels that are not then disclosed in the drinks' labels.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already issued a warning about combining these energy drinks with alcohol consumption because of several resulting deaths. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a report warning about the negative health impact of excessive caffeine consumption. The report documented reports from emergency room physicians about young people requiring emergency room treatment because of consumption of alcohol and energy drinks. Neither agency has, however, taken any action against the makers of these drinks. The average amount of caffeine in a 12-ounce soda such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi is 50 milligrams. For a 5-ounce cup of coffee, the amount is 100 milligrams. Energy drinks contain between 80 and 500 milligrams. The pre-workout sports supplement craze ran into difficulties initially in 2013 when Craze, the pre-workout product of Bodybuilding.com, was tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping agency and found amphetamine-like compounds in its results. \({ }^{102}\) Bodybuilding.com stopped selling the product on its website until it could determine whether the tests results were accurate and denied that any such substances were part of its products. Peter Cohen, a professor at Harvard Medical School, published research in 2013 and 2014 that indicated Craze has a meth-like compound in it (called DMBA). \({ }^{103}\) Professor Cohen has continued to follow this line of research and has found banned ingredients and high stimulant levels in the majority of sports supplements on the market. \({ }^{104}\) Professor Cohen is an advocate of removing both the powders and energy drinks from military bases and has proposed modification to federal laws on the regulation of supplements to require full and accurate disclosure of their ingredients. Bodybuilding.com is part of Driven Sports, an interesting company, run by convicted felon and supplement developer, Matt Cahill. Mr. Cahill is known for combining unique ingredients in his supplements, something that has drawn a loyal customer base. Mr. Cahill was charged and entered a guilty plea in 2005 to charges that he was selling supplements that had a steroid, Superdrol, in them. Superdrol can cause liver damage. Mr. Cahill served a federal prison sentence for the charges. Mr. Cahill was indicted again in 2012 by the federal government for allegedly spiking another workout supplement, Rebound XT, with estrogen. Those charges against Mr. Cahill were dropped in 2015. Amazon and GNC eventually withdrew the Craze product from their stock and Bodybuilding.com no longer sold it. However, in 2015, the product returned to the website and the retailers, reformulated and sold under the name Craze V2. Professor Cohen and others continue to raise questions about what is actually in the drinks and powders and point out the need for research on the potential health consequences of their use................

 Discussion Questions
1. Is it possible that these drinks and powders could be banned? What similarities do you see between Buckyballs and energy drinks and powders? What differences?
2. What voluntary solutions could the energy drink makers and sports supplements manufacturers undertake? Why would they want to undertake voluntary disclosures? Who wouldn't they want to?